Esterification via Carbodiimide Induced Coupling

The carbodiimide-coupled esterification of carboxylic acids is a well-known reaction in organic chemistry. N,N'-Dialkylcarbodiimides act as water scavengers, promoting condensation of an acid with an alcohol while being transformed into an N,N'-dialkylurea (from X-N=C=N-X to X-NHCONH-X, where X is an alkyl radical). For example, diisopropylcarbodiim-ide (DIC) was used for the esterification of some aromatic acids with hexafluoroisopropanol. A concentration of 0.1-0.15% DIC and the alcohol in hexane was found to be sufficient to esterify within 1 min.

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